Some of the theories most frequently used to try and explain the appearance and development of political and terrorist violence argue that social deprivation, ethnic discrimination or religious intolerance and suppression, trigger oppressed groups into using political violence, believing that it is the only way to be heard on a political level and to gain more decision-making influence. Following this theoretical concept, it seems justified to argue that large-scale victimization, combined with perceived injustice in past conflicts, could potentially be a source of political violence and terrorism in the future. Furthermore, victimization and victim narratives passed on from one generation to the other obviously play a major role, both in interpreting history and in justifying terrorist violence. Yet, is victimization actually one of the root causes of terrorism, or is it just another convenient excuse for practicing violence? Research aimed at answering this question by looking closely at the relevant criminological characteristics of two very similar phenomena, hate crimes and terrorism, could provide highly useful information which would increase our understanding of how ethnic hatred develops and fosters the dilemma of ethnic security, while remaining a constant threat for security, especially in post-conflict societies.